Estate is booming with babies as couples move in

Birth-rate is five times the national average ‘It’s just fantastic to see so much joyous new life’

A baby boom on a new housing estate has seen it record a birthrate five times the national average.

In little more than two years, 17 newborns have arrived on the Aylesham Village development on the edge of the former mining community.

With just 124 homes on the estate, the rate is the equivalent of 52.7 births per 1,000 people – the national average is 11.9.

The sky-high figures have been attributed to the number of young families taking advantage of the government’s Help to Buy Scheme, which is available on all of the development’s homes.

It allows first-time buyers to snap up a new home with only a 5% deposit.

Natasha Symon, 30, and hus- band Jamie, 31, moved into a four-bedroom house in March last year.

Before the year was out Natasha was pregnant and two months ago gave birth to daughter Tabitha, a new sister for Harry, who is now two.

She says having so many new young mums on the estate has helped bind the community together.

“There’s always something family-orientated going on,” she said. “Everybody knows everybody and we all have something in common, being new parents.

“A lot of the local churches run toddler groups which is great for when you are trying to fill a young child’s day.

“We were just saying the other day how you see children playing outside here all the time, which is not something you see very often any more.”

Aylesham is already the largest village in east Kent, but almost 1,100 more homes are still to be built on the Aylesham Village site.

Natalie Perry is director of sales and marketing for Barratt Homes, which has led the development.

“We knew when we were developing these homes that they would be a perfect fit for young couples looking to start new families,” she said.

“Howe ver, we didn’t quite expect to see so many beautiful babies born just two years since the first residents moved in.

“It’s just fantastic to see so much joyous new life at Aylesham, which only adds to the vibrancy of the place.”